For All Cap Ebb and Grow Users

morrisgreenberg

morrisgreenberg

Well-Known Member
i/m still confused about this air flow temp issue, if you can take that outside air, blow it into your hoods then blow all that back into the tent , then there should be even better results if you left the fan sucking out the hot air , may i ask if you have the fan sucking out the air, what is happening to the fresh air thats coming in? are you blocking it off?
 
xceptional

xceptional

Active Member
boxing119 said:
no i have my duct work going from the open window through my inline fan through both cool tube than into an empty closet... the air being sucked through is really cold i think 2 x 1000 watt lights may just be too much for my 4x8 tent?
its not a duct booster fan i know what your talking about, i have an inline fan and it seems to work very well....
Click to expand...
Maybe a HYDROGEN SUN SHIELD may help? i don't know how effective these things are but maybe they could help. also what about a portable ac to bring clean cold air in the room that isn't full of humidity like the outside air.

how warm is it by hand 6" under your lights?
do you have any venting for your tent?
 
smokingrubber

smokingrubber

Well-Known Member
xceptional said:
here is a somewhat recent vid of my setup..
[youtube][movie]
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Click to expand...
I just had to dig that out and show everyone these girls one more time. :clap: How they lookn now?
 
boxing119

boxing119

Active Member
when i was sucking the air out of the tent it went fan-cooltube-cool tube than out of the tent, it really sucked a ton out and the air was hot but it just couldnt keep it cool enough? what do you mean what is happing to the fresh air? i had to dis connect the outside air because i couldnt suck it through anymore and have it still sucking.
 
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burlegrass

Active Member
Hi - Thanks for all great info in this thread. Made setup a breeze, besides getting the tubing over the pump outlet. The only suggestion I have that might help others with that is to use very small needle-nose pliers to grip the wall of the tubing to help pull it on.

Testing the system now and have a problem I was hoping y'all could help me fix it. Fill cycle works perfectly. Timer trips over to drain cycle - the light on the controller switches over to drain cycle. However, pump fails to start. All float switches are unobstructed, no kinks in tubing, the pump works.

Some troubleshooting revealed that if I plug the pump directly into a wall-socket and let it run for a minute, then unplug it from the wall and plug it into the "drain pump" socket on the controller unit, the pump then runs fine. The water level in the controller unit drops below the lowest float switch and the pump turns off. However, as the buckets continue drain into the controller and the two lowest switches are again floating, the drain pump does not turn back on to finish draining the system (I'm assuming this is how the drain cycle is supposed work).

Any ideas? My 1st thought is that the controller unit just isn't putting out enough juice to start the pump cold, but once the pump is warmed up a bit, it is enough juice. Next troubleshoot attempt will be to buy another pump of similar size (I would switch out with the pump in the reservoir, but I really don't want to have to go through the tube/pump fitting thing again).

Worst part is that early into this problem I removed the cover on the timer unit to see if there was some obvious wiring issue (there wasn't) and didn't notice the word "VOID" on the tape I peeled back to get in there until I was putting it back together. DOH!

I'm all ears people - thanks for any ideas you might have.
 
mrduke

mrduke

Well-Known Member
you may have to slightly lift the front of the controller bucket, I have 1/2" shims under the front edge of mine. WHY??? it allows the pump (which should be against the back wall of bucket ) to not run dry, some times the pump will run until there is no water left to pump causing an air bubble. I believe they call it vacume or suction lock. lifting the front allows more water where the pump is as well as shotting off the pump sooner.
 
patlpp

patlpp

New Member
burlegrass said:
However, as the buckets continue drain into the controller and the two lowest switches are again floating, the drain pump does not turn back on to finish draining the system (I'm assuming this is how the drain cycle is supposed work).
Click to expand...
Do the same test except on the drain ACoutlet, hook up an ac strip and plug in the pump AND a fan. When the 2 floats are floating and the pump doesn't come on but the fan does, than it is confirmed the pump is the issue, not the controller. If the fan does not, the controller is at fault.
I have found the pump works better when laying on its side...prevents air from entering the pump.
 
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burlegrass

Active Member
Thanks for the ideas - shimmed to tip as suggested. Did the test w/ fan and both fan and pump failed to turn on....so faulty controller then?
 
patlpp

patlpp

New Member
burlegrass said:
Thanks for the ideas - shimmed to tip as suggested. Did the test w/ fan and both fan and pump failed to turn on....so faulty controller then?
Click to expand...
It does seem to be....
Wiggle the connections to the float switches when the floats are up and if it comes on , even just for a moment, it's a connection issue. You know, dick with the connections to narrow it down.
 
Sinclue

Sinclue

Member
mrduke said:
you may have to slightly lift the front of the controller bucket, I have 1/2" shims under the front edge of mine. WHY??? it allows the pump (which should be against the back wall of bucket )

Where do people have thier drain pumps? The instructions clearly show placement in the front (timer/floats end). Having just installed my replacement controller the directions are pretty fresh.
I had issues with the fill float valve. They replaced the controller with a new unit that also included two new pumps and the bag with instructions and more connector pieces. It was about a two week turnaroun (and I am here in California where they are). I had to prompt them after they had my unit for six days and I hadn't heard from them. They then sent out the new unit.
Did you know that the controllers have a serial #? On the box, but I don't know where on the unit. Perhaps in the timer box.
If, however, you blew right paste the shiny silver tape that says VOID then you may not be able to get them to replace your unit. Call their Tech people. Hard to get through...leaving a callback number didn't help...just keep trying. The Tech people have to clear any returns first.
That being said I've run my replacement controller through 20 cycles so far without a failure. Guess I'm starting to feel like it will work out. Having your unit not shut off when its filling really tends to freak you out and make you paranoid about the unit. :shock: I've added a sump type pump to the tent floor just in case. Maybe at some point I'll feel confident enough in the controller to not think I need that backup.
As for installing the hose on the pump people do realize that the connector on the pump can be removed from the pump right? I didn't realize that until the second pump...D'oh! Makes it a lot easier to install the hose, especially if you use the lighter/heat trick.
Click to expand...
 
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burlegrass

Active Member
When I had the timer box open I didn't see a unique ID but it was marked with initials and month it was made: 12/09. I sent tech an email - will update when I get it figured out.

I initially had the drain pump on the front per the directions, but switched per mrduke's rec.

Now that I've already opened the timer box, I could try to post some photo's if anyone's interested in the innards.
 
morrisgreenberg

morrisgreenberg

Well-Known Member
can you put the unit back together without them noticing? its most likely a float valve but that thing is hard wired to the timer box. also did you try to suck fluid from the hose in the res? try to syphon water back to the res when the drain cycle pump comes on. trust me you gotta try this first i have 3 of these units and they all got air pocket and these air pockets make the unit seem like its not working
 
mrduke

mrduke

Well-Known Member
I dont know what you guys think but the pumps that come with this kit are crap.I replaced both mine with hydrofarm 150GPH there a bit bigger butare a mag drive and have a pre-filter. Best of all i trust them
 
Sinclue

Sinclue

Member
burlegrass said:
I sent tech an email - will update when I get it figured out.


I'd still recommend you call them. I sent Tech an email on Sunday, didn't get a reply until Wed. The reply was: Call Tech Support!
By then I'd already gotten through to them on the phone and sent my defective unit back.

Pics of the timer box would be welcome for sure.
Click to expand...
 
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burlegrass

Active Member
OK - phone it is. Thanks for the heads up.

They will know the timer box has been opened. I peeled back the void tape rather than cutting it, but it's designed to leave behind some shiny tell-tale signs that it has been un-stuck.

I had to prime the pump the first time i turned it on via suck method, but since then it has held its prime. I tried it again for greenberg, 5 seconds after as the cycle switched over to drain, and was able to draw the water up to the rez but still nothing from the pump. Maybe I haven't been clear about this - there is no power going to the pump. I'm imagining in an air lock situation that I would hear/feel the pump running, just not seeing it move any water. This pump is just silent.

Happy Superbowl everbody!
 
morrisgreenberg

morrisgreenberg

Well-Known Member
just trying to help you avoid having to send back the unit, that means 2 weeks down time i assume, even if its the timer or float valves its gotta go
 
patlpp

patlpp

New Member
Does anyone use an airstone in the res? The hydro store I go to has one massive 70psi on continuously. The man swears by it, that growth is improved. I thought the ebb/flow action , the draining in the res along with the hydroton is good enough. I have 1 girl who is droopy so I dug down and the roots look light brown, not serious rot but may be on its way. She is the only one left in this grow. My 2 others were male. The males roots were fine. (they are of course history)

Should I go for the stone/air or would h202 be good enough? Any quick root repair method up your sleeves? Thanks
 
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